Oiled or not?

[MikeS]

Hi All.

I bought a used mould from a forum member recently, and when I got it, it had a nice bright red coating of surface rust on most of the external surfaces. The member I bought it from knows how to handle moulds, and it's apparent that he stores his moulds in an airtight container either with vci paper in it, or not, as the mould was dry. Luckily there wasn't any rust of any kind in the cavities, and the rust that was on the outsides of the blocks cleaned off with some kroil and a quick wipe with a paper towel.

So here's my question: When buying a used iron mould, would you prefer the seller to ship it to you without any extra rust preventative steps taken, and you clean up the mould when you get it using whatever method you prefer? Or would you rather the seller give the mould a good coating of rust preventative (either oil, or LLA, grease, etc.) which would remove any 'seasoning' the mould has, as well as require a much more thorough cleaning before you can cast with it?

With the mould I just got, I sprayed it with kroil, then wiped it down, including the internal faces of the mould, and the cavities (I didn't actually spray any into the cavities, only wiped them with the towel that had kroil on it from the rest of the mould), then preheated it, and started casting. About the only problem I had was the bases on some of the pours not being well filled out, but a couple of moments with a fine file across the parting surface of the mould (see the message by Ben about how to do that) fixed the bases not filling out completely! The mould is a bevel base mould, so it was easier to look at the boolits while still in the mould to determine if they had filled out completely.

So back to my original question, would you prefer a mould is oiled up for the trip in the mail, or left as it was before packing, and clean any rust that might come along when you get it? After thinking about it for a moment I decided I'm glad the mould wasn't oiled up, as I was able to clean it up, and start casting with it quicker than if it had been oiled up heavily for the trip. I mean just how much rust can grow in the 2-3 days it's enroute?

[MikeS]

I forgot to mention that since I cast over 300 boolits from the mould, and it's not one I'm going to be shooting lots of, when I was done I gave the mould a good coating of 'Fluid Film" a lanolin based rust preventative. Down here in south FL if you don't protect iron from rusting it WILL rust, and quickly too!

[Rockchucker]

I probably store my molds a little differently than most but I say to each their own anyway, and I don't want to receive any used mold in the mail all rusted up that I buy. After using my iron molds and they're cooled down to room temperature I usually stray them with a quality oil inside and out and store them in drawer in a tool cabinet covered with an oily towel. Clean up for reuse is simple and fast and living here on the salty coast of north west Florida I NEVER have a rust problem with any of my iron molds. On occasion I'll open up the mold drawer, remove the oily towel and put a lite coat of oil across all the molds and cover them up for storage again.

[quack1]

I oil molds before mailing them. In summer the package will make a couple trips from air conditioned buildings to hot trucks and just the opposite in winter, and the mold has a good chance of being drenched in condensation, cavities included.
I'd rather clean off oil than rust.

[44man]

I use nothing on my molds because my basement is dry from the de-humidifier and nothing will rust. It makes it nice to just grab a mold and cast.
Now a friend had a lot of machine tools he kept in plastic boxes. He put a chunk of camphor in each box. It stops rust but I don't know if it coats the steel as it evaporates.
If I had a rust problem I would use the special paper like comes with Lyman molds. Plastic bags should be fine if you squeeze out all the air.
How about a vacuum sealer for long term?
You fellas that live where you can take a piece of air and wring it out sure need something.
Many years ago some gun writer said to smear beeswax all over the hot mold and store with a boolit in it , I did it once, don't go there!

[Sasquatch-1]

Oil it up. You can always burn the oil off.

[ku4hx]

Here in the sunny and very often very humid South, oiling molds has always been a good idea. Same for guns, cast iron skillets and pretty much anything else with a propensity to rust.

[H.Callahan]

I would say oiled as well. Just for the fact that you never know what conditions the mold will go through during shipping. I have seen some crazy routings from package delivery folks.

[troy_mclure]

I bought a mold off eBay from a fellow in az. He shipped it first class. In the 2 weeks it took to get to me in louisaina it already had a thin coat of rust on it, as I picked the package up on my way to work it sat in my truck for a month while I was offshore. Then I returned home for a week, sprayed it with wd and forgot about it for another 2 months. So much rust had grown and the cavity (.54 rb) that it was ruined. It was badly pitted all over. I learned my lesson and ask for any mould/tool I order to be oiled and packed in a ziplock Baggie.

[SP5315]

I would want it shipped well oiled!

Our mail carrier walks their route. Last winter I had a mold delivered with the outer packaging soaked. By the time I opened it after I got home from work it had started to rust. Even in good weather most paper and cardboard is hygroscopic and will suck out any moisture in the air.

[paul h]

I personally wouldn't ship a mold that was rusty, but if the price is right I'll buy a rusty mold. A mold has to be fairly rusted up before it has pits and affects how the mold casts. The thing to figure out is whether or not your sweat equity is worth cleaning up a rusty mold or not.

[L1A1Rocker]

If shipping it should be well oiled if not greased, just like a firearm. For storage I put them in an airtight plastic container with a couple of rust inhibitor chips thrown in.

[RobS]

I use to oil then I started to put my molds in a plactic air tight ammo case, the ones with the rubber gasket on the lid. Problem solved however if I were to ship a mold out I would oil it down. Some mail becomes lost for weeks on end and I wouldn't take the chance.

[gray wolf]

I would prefer the owner took care of his equipment from day one,
and when it was shipped a nice lite coat of oil can do no harm.
I have had molds that were dripping with oil and all it takes to clean them is Dawn dish soap and a tooth brush,
Did I say use hot water.

[Huntducks]

When I sold a bunch of molds on ebay a few years back I just split them and Vac. sealed them no rust no moving around. I do same at home when I know i'm done for the casting season have an old Vac sealer in my loading room and use old bags.

[MikeS]

Why bother splitting the mould if you're going to vacuum seal them? Wouldn't the plastic of the bag hold the mould together?

Another interesting thing about the mould I just got, the blocks were held together with rubber bands, and where the bands were there was no rust!

[44man]

I bought a mold off eBay from a fellow in az. He shipped it first class. In the 2 weeks it took to get to me in louisaina it already had a thin coat of rust on it, as I picked the package up on my way to work it sat in my truck for a month while I was offshore. Then I returned home for a week, sprayed it with wd and forgot about it for another 2 months. So much rust had grown and the cavity (.54 rb) that it was ruined. It was badly pitted all over. I learned my lesson and ask for any mould/tool I order to be oiled and packed in a ziplock Baggie.

You hastened the rust process with WD-40. The cans are best when exploded as targets!

[Freightman]

Rust! you have to have water to have rust, I think I could lay mine outside and leave them and never see any rust. It has been a long dry spell.

[Shiloh]

I oil my iron molds.

Shiloh

[300winmag]

Ohio=Humidity=heavy oil